Women who delay starting a family are more likely to live longer, a study suggests.

Those who had their first child after the age of 25 were 11 per cent more likely to survive into their 90s than women who first gave birth at an earlier age, scientists found.

The number of older mothers has soared in recent decades, as more women concentrate on their career first and turn to family later.

Women in this country now have their first child five years later on average than they did 40 years ago.

The average age of first-time motherhood in England and Wales is 28.6, according to the latest figures from 2014, up from 23.5 in 1970.

Women who had their first child after the age of 25 were 11 per cent more likely to survive into their 90s, a new study found

And the proportion of over-40s women has trebled in the three decades, from 4.9 per 1,000 in 1984 to 14.7 per 1,000 in 2014.

Doctors tend to warn women not to leave it too late - stressing that with age fertility drops, the chance of complications increase, and the chance of birth complications also rise.

But the findings of the new study, based on more than 20,000 women in the US, suggests that there are advantages to late motherhood.

The researchers, from the University of California San Diego, found that women who had their first baby between the ages of 25 and 29 were 11 per cent more likely to live to the age of 90 than women who had their first baby before 25.

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Even above the age of 30 the benefit persisted, with women who started their families at this age still 10 per cent more likely to survive into their 90s than under-25s.

The scientists found that being pregnant may have a protective effect on health.

Women who had been pregnant between two and four times were more likely to live into the 90s than women who had never been pregnant.

And among those women who had been pregnant, those who had experienced two or three pregnancies were 25 per cent more likely to survive to the age of 90 than women who had only one pregnancy.

Even above the age of 30 the benefit persisted, with women who started their families at this age still 10 per cent more likely to survive into their 90s than under-25s

Dr Aladdin Shadyab, whose work is published in the American Journal of Public Health, said: 'We found that women who had their first child at age 25 or older were more likely to live to age 90.

'The findings indicate that women with two to four term pregnancies compared with a single term pregnancy were also more likely to live at least nine decades.'

The researchers hold several theories as to why the trends exist.

One theory holds that women who survive an older pregnancy - which tend to be more risky - are likely to be inherently healthier.

NEARLY HALF OF WOMEN DELAY MOTHERHOOD

Nearly half of women who give birth aged over 30 are in managerial or professional jobs - and the level is even higher for over-40s.

The picture emerged in an analysis published by the Office for National Statistics last month.

The experts crunched figures on the occupations of women who gave birth in England and Wales in 2014.

For women aged 30 and over, the largest number of births were born to mothers in lower managerial and professional occupations, making up 29 per cent.

Higher managerial and professional occupations represented a further 14 per cent of births to women aged 30 and over.

Only 3 per cent of births to women under the age of 30 were in higher managerial and professional occupations.

Another suggests that women who delay motherhood are more likely to be from comfortable and wealthy social backgrounds, so are more likely to live longer anyway.

But some doctors think that pregnancy itself has a protective effect - and if women has a child later that benefit lasts later into old age.

Dr Shadyab said: 'Our findings do not suggest that women should delay having a child, as the risk of obstetric complications, including gestational diabetes and hypertension, is higher with older maternal ages.

'It is possible that surviving a pregnancy at an older age may be an indicator of good overall health, and as a result, a higher likelihood of longevity.

'It is also possible that women who were older when they had their first child were of a higher social and economic status, and therefore, were more likely to live longer.'

Separate research, conducted in South Korea, found mothers who gave birth at an older age were less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke.

Dr Mi-Jeong Kim, of the Catholic University of Korea, who presented his data at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in August, said women's body have 'vascular memory' of pregnancy that lasts for several decades.

He said: 'During pregnancy, there is profound vascular relaxation and decrease of systemic resistance.

'Such vascular relaxation at a later age might play a favourable role in aging-related vascular function.'